Suckers some distance from the plant are usually dependent on a shallow horizontal fleshy root from the mother plant. If you sever this root a few inches inside the sucker, it will develop its own root system in a couple of months and be easier to transplant.

Michael's advice sounds good to me. Beyond that, once the sucker has a good independent root system, I would transplant it during your regular season for planting shrubs. Here planting season is fall, but for Zone 5 you know better than I.

Thnx for your time and knowledge. I've also found off-site info on the subject. Hoping for great results...

Mark

I tried severing a sucker from the mother plant once and the sucker promptly died. Too short of a cut?

>I tried severing a sucker from the mother plant once and the sucker promptly died. Too short of a cut?

The answer is: that depends. Mostly it depends on when it was severed and how much root was on the sucker.

I find that it is best to make the cut in early spring. Remove the sucker with a foot or so of root from the original plant. Trim the top to 3 or 4 buds. This will be mostly underground runner and have very tiny roots on it.

Wind the runner in a coil inside a gallon pot filled with soil and compost. Water every day and in a few weeks new leaves should emerge. In a month or so it should be ready for planting in the ground.